Principal field crops
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In 2011, Prairie farmers anticipate planting a record area of canola, and expect to plant more durum wheat, barley and oats compared with 2010. In the East, Quebec and Ontario farmers expect to seed the largest area of corn for grain since 2007.
Subsequent to survey data collection, farmers may modify their plans prior to planting time as a result of environmental conditions.
Canola acreage may hit a record
Early indications are that Canadian farmers may seed a record 19.2 million acres of canola in 2011, up 14.3% or 2.4 million acres from the previous record set in 2010 at 16.8 million acres. This would be the fifth consecutive annual increase in canola area at the national level.
In Saskatchewan, following three years of seeded area ranging from 7.7 to 7.9 million acres, canola area could rise by 25.6%, or 2.0 million acres, to a record 9.8 million acres. The provincial record was 7.9 million acres set in 2009.
Farmers in Alberta reported expecting to plant a record 5.9 million acres of canola, up 8.1% from the record seeded area of 5.5 million acres set in 2010.
Area for durum wheat expected to increase sharply
Prairie durum wheat area could rise by 60.3% or 1.9 million acres to 5.1 million acres in 2011. Over the past decade, durum area has fluctuated considerably, from 6.5 million acres to a low of 3.2 million acres in 2010.
In Saskatchewan, where the majority of Canadian durum is grown, farmers may seed 4.4 million acres, up 57.0% or 1.6 million acres. Alberta farmers expect to plant 670,000 acres, an increase of 86.1% over the 2010 seeded area.
Eastern farmers set to plant more corn for grain
Farmers in Ontario and Quebec may plant the greatest area of corn for grain since 2007.
Ontario corn for grain seeded area should rise by 125,000 acres to 2.0 million acres, an increase of 6.7% over 2010. The record area of corn for grain in Ontario was set in 2007 at 2.1 million acres.
Note to readers
The March Farm Survey is about crop planting intentions in Canada. In 2011, the survey was conducted with approximately 12,600 farmers, from March 24 to March 31. Farmers were asked to report their intended plantings of grain, oilseeds and special crops. Farmers may modify their plans prior to planting time as a result of economic and environmental conditions. Some farmers indicated they were still undecided about their final strategies for 2011.
March intentions acreages will be replaced by estimated actual seeded acreages from subsequent surveys during the year. Final acreage numbers for 2011 will be released on December 6 and are subject to revision for two years.
The area seeded to corn for grain in Quebec is reported to rise 8.1% to 988,400 acres. The record area was set in 2002 and repeated in 2007 at 1.1 million acres.
Barley and oats acreage also on the rise
The area intended to be seeded to barley and oats are also expected to increase in 2011. At the national level, farmers anticipate seeding 7.8 million acres of barley, up 13.4% compared with the 6.9 million acres seeded in 2010. Similarly, acres seeded to oats could reach 4.1 million acres, an increase of 39.3% over 2010.
Available on CANSIM: tables 001-0004, 001-0010 and 001-0017 to 001-0020.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3401.
The publication Field Crop Reporting Series: "March intentions of principal field crop areas", Vol. 90, no. 2 (22-002-X, free), is now available from the Key resource of our website under Publications.
The stocks of principal field crops at March 31 will be released on May 6.
For further information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Yves Gilbert (613-951-2577; yves.gilbert@statcan.gc.ca), or Faye Price (204-983-2856; faye.price@statcan.gc.ca), Agriculture Division.
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